Blade
Blade is a 1998 American vampire-superhero action film starring Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson and Stephen Dorff, loosely based on the Marvel Comics character Blade. Snipes plays Blade, a human-vampire hybrid who protects humans from vampires. The film was directed by Stephen Norrington and written by David S. Goyer. Blade grossed $70 million at the U.S. box office, and $131.2 million worldwide. It was followed by two sequels, Blade II and Blade: Trinity, both written by Goyer. Plot A seductive woman leads a young man to a rave club filled with dozens of vampires. He bumps into the club owner, who would later be revealed as Deacon Frost, a young upstart in the vampire community. The music peaks when blood is sprayed from the sprinklers above (a blood rain) and the young man flees as the vampires begin to feed on the human members in the club. In the middle of the carnage, an armor clad vampire-hunter named Blade arrives. The crowd breaks into a frenzy as the "Daywalker" (vampires call him before attacking) displays extraordinary skills and strength against armed guards, eventually saving the young man's life. Blade slaughters the vampires in the club, leaving only Quinn alive and horribly burned as the police arrive on the scene. Blade tracks Quinn down to a hospital, but the vampire is able to bite a resident hematologist, Dr. Karen Jenson, before escaping once again. Blade brings Karen back to his lair and introduces her to Abraham Whistler, his mentor and weaponsmith. Karen resolves to study vampirism and find an antidote before she becomes a vampire herself. In working to find a stable, viable cure she soon discovers that the anticoagulant EDTA reacts explosively with the vampire infection. Meanwhile, Frost clashes with his vampire elders. He believes that vampires should rise from the shadows and enslave humanity. The elders believe in the subversive rule of (both human and vampire) society through their influence with police, politics, finance and real estate. Moreover, because he was not born a vampire as they were, they both shame him and shun him for his radical views and reckless activities. Frost studies ancient vampire lore and comes to believe that he can awaken La Magra, a bloodgod, to gain godlike absolute power. Together with his minions, he kidnaps and kills the chief vampire of the region and imprisons the other elders. Blade combats Frost's various minions in an effort to uncover his ultimate plan. After another encounter with Quinn and Frost's lover Mercury, Whistler would explain to a suspicious Karen that Blade's mother Vanessa was attacked while pregnant and that Blade is a half-vampire hybrid with all their superhuman strengths but none of their weaknesses except the bloodthirst. After witnessing Whistler give Blade a serum to counter the thirst, Karen successfully develops an antidote to cure herself of vampirism. While Blade is out on an errand, Frost and his crew manage to invade Blade's lair, kidnap Karen and mortally wound Whistler. Blade gives the infected Whistler a gun to commit suicide, then arms himself with a number of weapons and a large supply of EDTA. He storms Frost's penthouse, overrunning the bodyguards, and soon discovers Vanessa - his own mother, whom he believed long dead, in Frost's bed. She reveals that Frost was the vampire that bit her while Blade was still in her womb and caused him to become the Daywalker. More guards arrive and attack Blade as Frost intimates a long since sexual relationship with Vanessa and proclaims himself as creator of their "family". Thunderstruck, Blade is defeated and taken (with Karen) to the Temple of Eternal Night for Frost's blood ritual sacrifice. The temple antichamber drains Blade's blood and filters it through the ancient channels of the temple. Karen manages to escape the pit Frost dropped her in and feed Blade her blood, doubling his strength and giving him an animalistic power to fight the vampires. Meanwhile lightning strikes the temple and filters into the sanctuary as Frost sacrifices the elder vampires in a mystic ritual and painfully gains the power of La Magra. However the unintended result was not the awakening of the bloodgod but the culmination of the dead elders souls that fought absorption as the energies consume Frost's body. Vanessa attacks Blade forcing him to kill her. In the melee, Karen would secure a shotgun from a guard, shoot him dead and kills Mercury with concentrated garlic spray. Blade then furiously cuts through Quinn and the rest of Frost's minions before engaging Frost in rapidfire swordplay. Frost's new powers make him immune to Blade's conventional weapons, so Blade injects him, multiple times with EDTA, causing Frost to explode. As the pair leave the temple, Karen offers to cure Blade but he chooses to forgo the cure in order to continue hunting vampires and asks her to develop a better serum. An epilogue finds Blade killing a vampire attacking his date in Russia, intimating that Blade's new campaign has spread into Europe. Cast *Wesley Snipes as Blade: A half-vampire "daywalker" who hunts vampires. *Kris Kristofferson as Abraham Whistler: Blade's mentor and weaponsmith. *N'Bushe Wright as Dr. Karen Jenson: A hematologist who is bitten by the vampire Quinn. She stays with Blade to remain safe while she finds a cure for herself. *Stephen Dorff as Deacon Frost: An upstart vampire leader who emerges as Blade's primary enemy and who wants to conquer the human race. *Donal Logue as Quinn: A cocky lead minion of Frost's. *Udo Kier as Gitano Dragonetti: Head of the vampire elders. *Sanaa Lathan as Vanessa Brooks: Blade's mother, believed dead, who became a vampire and lover to Frost. *Arly Jover as Mercury: Frost's second lover and second in command. *Kevin Patrick Walls as Officer Krieger: A "familiar", or human servant, of Frost's. *Tim Guinee as Dr. Curtis Webb: Karen's ex-boyfriend who later becomes a decomposing zombie. *Traci Lords as Racquel: A seductive vampire who leads a man to the blood rave. *Eric Edwards as Pearl: the obese records keeper. External links * Category:Films Category:1998 release Category:Blade series Category:Wesley Snipes films